They Shall Not Grow Old
by taskforce
Summary: When Keiichi is given a stunning reminder of the fleeting nature of human life, he and Belldandy are faced with the choices on how to make 'forever' a matter of months.
1. Crash

Ah! My Goddess does not belong to me.

* * *

_They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:_  
_Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn._  
_At the going down of the sun and in the morning_  
_We will remember them._

_As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,_  
_Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;_  
_As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,_  
_To the end, to the end, they remain._

* * *

It all came down to one moment of truth. One instant in time when you had to act, had to concentrate, had to _win_.

As Keiichi Morisato wheeled out the auto club's Suzuki GSX-R, he tried to concentrate, get his head into the race. _A quarter of a mile. It'll be over in seconds. You have to concentrate. Time the light. Ease the throttle. Listen to the engine._

_Do what you know how to do._

He carefully moved the motorcycle to the starting line and climbed on, testing the brakes and revving the engine slightly. Around him, the crowd was yelling wildly at the two racers. Tamiya was shouting some last bit of encouragement from the sidelines and the announcer's electronically amplified voice was making a last-minute address.

Snapping his visor closed, he took one last look at the crowd searching for a face. There she was—Belldandy , the goddess who had come down from Heaven and stayed with him. She was smiling and waving, as enthusiastic about this race as she was all his races. He smiled back, knowing she wouldn't see it through the helmet. It didn't matter. He knew she knew.

Then his head snapped back forward. His entire body tensed, ready to explode into action in an instant. As if with a mental switch, he suddenly cut off all outside sound, all of the crowd and the extraneous noise of the racetrack. All he could hear was the bike and his own heartbeat.

As the lights on the Christmas tree winked into existence, counting down to the start, Keiichi felt time slow down. Everything began to happen in slow motion. His hand twisted on the GSX's throttle almost of its own volition, revving the engine up for just the right timing. The GSX began to howl, peaking exactly as the green light flashed on. Keiichi released the brake with perfect timing and the motorcycle leapt forward with incredible speed. _Holeshot!_

The track became a blur as his speed increased exponentially. The spectators became a mass of splotched color. At just the right instant, he shifted, moving into a higher gear in perfect rhythm with the bike's acceleration. He dared not look over at the other lane; the distraction would only slow him down, and there was nothing he could do now except maintain this focus.

Moving by instinct, he shifted again. He felt the wind tug at his body, seeking to rip him off the bike. Just ahead, so close he could almost touch it, was the finish line. He knew he was going to win. The run had been perfect.

Then it hit him again—that strange feeling he'd been having all day. He felt dizzy, almost as if he had vertigo. He was crossing the finish line when his bike began to wobble just so slightly. Trying to correct, he turned the bike and began slowing down, but the dizziness broke his concentration and the wobble worsened as he lost control.

888

The crowd went wild as Keiichi's bike surged out from the start, gaining a gratuitous lead over his competitor. The Nekomi Tech Auto Club was going to win their third race of the day and move on to the finals. In the stands, still dressed in their NIT Auto Club jumpsuits, Belldandy and Urd cheered for their favorite mortal as he tore down the strip to certain victory.

"What's this?" the announcer's voice thundered. "Morisato could be in trouble! He's in trouble!" Beside Urd, Belldandy stiffened, her fear for Keiichi taking instant precedence over the victory. Looking into Keiichi's mind, she felt desperation and panic, and she started to move.

But it was too late. With a sickening thud, Keiichi's motorcycle hit the side of the dragstrip at considerable speed, sending the hapless racer flying.

"Good lord, he's crashed!" the announcer exclaimed. "Ladies and gentlemen, Keiichi Morisato has gone out of control and crashed!"

"No!" Belldandy cried out, running down the dragstrip, heedless of anything except Keiichi's plight.

Urd took off right behind her. "Wait! Belldandy!"

There was no dissuading the brown-haired goddess, though, and moving at near-superhuman speeds Belldandy covered the distance to Keiichi's body in a matter of mere seconds. Keiichi was sprawled on the asphalt where he had tumbled after being thrown. His limbs were splayed out grotesquely, as if to testify to the violence of his landing. Running, she dove to his side, hoping against hope that her Keiichi would be safe and unhurt.

To her relief, she heard him moan softly as she undid the clasps on his helmet. Gently, she placed her hand on his chest and felt it move. "Heal," she whispered. "Heal. _Please_." Her hand glowed with blue light, which diffused onto Keiichi's body.

She could feel the magical energy leaving her as she worked to repair Keiichi's injuries, but he still didn't wake up. "Stay with me, Mr. Keiichi!" she cried. Still trying to figure out what more she could do, she found herself shouldered roughly out of the way by two somber uniformed men.

The paramedics began a quick examination of Keiichi. "Patient is semiconscious," the lead medic said. "He's moving his head; I don't think he has serious spinal damage. Check the airway!"

The second was kneeing where Belldandy had been. "Airway's clear!" he announced. "He's breathing."

"We've got a lot of contusions, some bleeding here!" The first announced. He reached for his radio. "Get the ambulance over here; we've got a priority one to Nekomi General!"

Urd pulled Belldandy back from interfering with the first responders. "Belldandy! Let them do their jobs!"

"But Keiichi!" Belldandy protested, trying to go back to him

"You've already tried healing him, please, Belldandy, let them take care of him!" Urd tried to hold Belldandy back. "He'll be okay! You hear me? _He'll be okay._"

Megumi Morisato ran up from behind them. "Oh my god!" she cried. "Is he alright?"

The paramedics didn't answer. Instead, they moved a gurney next to Keiichi and then grabbed hold of him. "Count of three!" the lead medic said. "One, two, _three_!" They lifted the injured racer onto the gurney, then elevated it and wheeled it over to the newly-arrived ambulance.

Urd turned to Keiichi's sister. "Megumi, do you know anyone who has a car? They're taking him to Nekomi General!"

Megumi nodded dumbly. "I—I think Sora Hasegawa has a car," she offered.

"Then let's go!" Urd said forcefully, trying to snap the other two women out of their shock.

Belldandy would barely remember the next half-hour. They met up with Sora and the rest of the NIT pit crew and jumped into a car, racing to get to the hospital. They had driven like mad fiends, with tires screeching as they whipped around corners and accelerated through traffic. Sora had driven with a confidence that she had never displayed on the racetrack, her innate abilities fleshed out by the sheer desperation of the group's need.

As soon as the car screamed to a halt in the entrance circle of the hospital, Megumi and Belldandy leapt from the vehicle and flew into antechamber, Urd right behind. After asking for hurried directions to the ICU from the receptionist they ran for the stairs, rushing breathlessly to the third floor where they were stopped by the floor nurse.

"Where is he?" Belldandy cried.

"We're looking for Keiichi Morisato!" Megumi added as an explanation. "He just got here from a motorcycle crash!"

The nurse nodded and picked up her phone and dialed a number. "It'll just be a minute," she assured them after she finished on the phone.

After a few seconds, a harried-looking doctor in a lab coat came out of a room further down the hall. "You're looking for Keiichi Morisato?" he asked.

'Where is he? Is he okay?" Belldandy demanded.

"Can we see him?" Megumi pressed.

The doctor raised his hands. "Please, calm down. My name is Dr. Morioka, and I'm one of the doctors overseeing Keiichi. This is a complicated case, but I have good hope that Mr. Morisato is going to recover. He's received some serious trauma, particularly to the head, and we think he has a concussion. However, I don't think he'll need surgery."

"We have him in an induced coma at present, while we try to treat the intracranial swelling. There may have been some hemorrhaging in his pituitary gland, so we're watching out for the development of neurogenic diabetes insipidus and administering prophylactic Desmopressin intranasally. We've also got an IV ready to treat any fluid loss."

"Now, he appears to have no serious injuries elsewhere, and his head injuries are light when you realize how catastrophic that crash should have been. I'm say he's been pretty lucky so far. We're going to wheel him in for a CT scan of the head and neck in just a few minutes to see if there's any other damage. After that, if he's stable, his family will be able to visit him."

He looked at Belldandy questioningly; her foreign appearance and strange facial markings throwing him. "Are you a member of Mr. Morisato's immediate family?" he asked.

Belldandy started to reply, but stopped herself. "I—".

Megumi glared at the doctor. "Listen, I'm his sister, and I say that she can go wherever I can go. _Got that_?"

Morioka nodded. "I understand." He pointed to a line of chairs along the wall, his expression apologetic. "Unfortunately, for now you'll all have to wait. I'm going to get back to work with Mr. Morisato, but I'll let you know if anything happens—you have my word." With that the doctor turned and walked back into the care unit.

888

Several hours later, the CT scan done, Keiichi was back in his darkened room, still unconscious but stable. Lying on his back, his chest rose and fell softly as he breathed peacefully. Sitting next to him, holding his hand in hers, Belldandy waited in silent vigil over him. Her tear-stained face was knitted in concern and anguish as she tried to figure out what had happened. Megumi had fallen asleep in one of the room's chair, and Urd stood, leaning on the wall for support.

Belldandy's head bowed in shame. "This is all my fault," she said. "I wasn't able to help him. I wasn't able to heal him in time."

Urd stopped leaning on the wall and walked over to Belldandy, putting her arms around her sister. "It's not your fault, Belldandy. You did everything you could."

"I should have been ready!" Belldandy cried. "I should have known he was going to crash. I should have seen something, something about the bike, or, or I don't know—maybe he wasn't feeling well before he raced, or…" Her words trailed off into nothingness. "There must've been something I could have done."

Urd shook her head. "I feel horrible too, Belldandy…Keiichi is special to me, too. I _hate _seeing him like this…but you did all you could, and there isn't anyone who would have done better under the circumstances. You _healed_ him, sis. You did the best you could in the few second you had to try to save him, and look what the doctor said—his injuries weren't all that bad. That's because you helped him."

Belldandy nodded tearfully, unable to answer.

Urd smiled wanly, trying to cheer her sister even a little. "He'll be okay. I promise. Keiichi's been jumped by demons, possessed by the Lord of Terror, turned into a scooter…one little motorcycle accident isn't going to keep him down." She straightened. "Keiichi won't be awake for at least another day. We should find a place where you can rest. It's been a hard day on everybody."

Belldandy shook her head. "No, I'm going to stay here by his side. Like I promised to. Oh, god, Keiichi," she sobbed, "why didn't I just stay next to you?"

"You're sure?" Urd asked.

"Yes." Belldandy nodded. "I'm going to try and heal him slowly, stop any other problems…"

Urd patted her shoulder gently. "I understand," she said. "I'll be down the hall if you need anything."

Belldandy looked up. "Thanks, Urd. It really does mean a lot to me."

As Urd walked out of the room, gently closing the door, Belldandy leaned forward and rested her head on Keiichi's chest, willing her power to heal him. _I love you, Keiichi…and I don't ever want to lose you. Not ever. _

She closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat, totally in sync with him. The night passed slowly and softly, the only break in the silence the muted, steady beep of the electrocardiogram.

888

Keiichi Morisato woke up in the morning with the chirping of the birds. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw a face he recognized, a face that deep down in his very soul, he knew he loved. "Am I in heaven?" he croaked softly.

Belldandy shook her head, resting her hand on his bandaged forehead. "No, Mr. Keiichi, you're not in Heaven," she said softly. "You're in the hospital."

"Oh." He smiled weakly. "I figured I was in heaven when I saw you."

Belldandy giggled, unable to restrain herself. Then she turned somber. 'I'm so sorry, Mr. Keiichi," she said, "I should have been able to help you."

"No." He tried to shake his head. "No, not at all." He stared up into her blue eyes. "All I could ever want is for you to be here with me, Bell. I don't need anything else if you're with me."

"Mr. Keiichi," Belldandy breathed, overcome by the simple statement. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, reveling in the feel of his lips on hers and the warmth of his body. 'I'm glad you're okay."

Keiichi just laid there, stunned to his very core. Belldandy was almost _never_ this forward, and he couldn't remember the last time they had kissed. His blood ran hot, energized by the simple contact. He tried to raise an arm to pull her closer, but was wracked with pain, causing him to cry out softly.

Belldandy sat back up and laid her hands on his arm. "Please, just stay still," she said. "I'll get the doctor." Reluctantly, she stood up. "I'll be right back," she said, and exited the room.

A minute later, she returned with a young man in a white coat who wore a stethoscope around his shoulders and carried a clipboard.

"Good morning, Keiichi," the man said. "My name is Doctor Morioka, and I'm in charge of your case. " He smiled and pulled over a chair next to Keiichi. "You gave us quite a fright, I must say, but I think you're recovering well. Motorcycle accidents usually don't end so well."

Keiichi nodded fractionally. "So I did crash. I thought that was what must've happened, but those last few seconds are gone."

"That's typical with your injuries," the doctor replied. "Don't worry however; you are actually recovering very well. The fact that you are awake and responsive is highly unusual in this situation, but I'm glad of it." Morioka scribbled a bit on the clipboard. "I've taken a look over you CT scans and I'm pleased to say that it appears you don't have any problematic complications from the crash. However, I _do _need to ask you some questions."

"Keiichi, have you been feeling dizzy at all these past few days, or weeks? Any strange feelings, headaches, nausea, anything like that?"

Keiichi thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, come to think of it, I have. I thought I was just feeling a little under the weather, though."

"Do you or your family have a history of vertigo or any related disorders?" Morioka asked.

"None that I know about." Keiichi shook his head weakly. "Is there a problem?"

Morioka didn't answer him. "Have you felt, uh, uncoordinated at all, like you had trouble moving, recently?"

"Not that I can recall," Keiichi answered. "Nothing big, anyways."

"That's fine," the doctor replied. He made a few more notes on the board. "That's just fine." He looked back up at Keiichi. "Well, the good news is that, given how well you've recovered, we're going to be able to release you possibly by tonight, but first I'm afraid we're going to have to run some blood tests as part of the post-treatment workup."

"Anything I need to worry about, doc?" Keiichi asked.

Morioka paused, then shook his head. "I don't think so," he said softly, then stood up. "Well, Mr. Morisato, I'm glad to see you awake again. I can prescribe pain medication if you need it. If you need anything else, just contact the floor nurse. Otherwise," he smiled, "I'll leave you to the care this wonderful woman."

Keiichi smiled. "Thank you, doctor. I appreciate your work."

888

A week later, Keiichi was back at the Tariki Hongan temple, nearly confined to a bed by a worried, overprotective Belldandy. Keima and Takano, his parents, had flown down from Hokkaido, and Megumi had basically taken up shop at the temple itself. Urd had treated him nicer than usual, and she and Skuld, who had reluctantly declared a cessation of hostilities with him, had stopped fighting to allow him to rest

Tamiya and Otaki had stopped by the hospital before he had left, wishing him their best and telling him that NIT was negotiating with the event insurance to pay for his hospital stay.

"After all, Morisato," Tamiya had rumbled, "you was da school champion an' all. And we need ya back in the Auto Club, so you can help us fix the GSX."

Keiichi could only smile. That was Tamiya—pragmatic even in his concern. They had stopped by the temple a few times more to check on his recovery, but Belldandy had firmly ejected them from the premises before they could harass him too much.

It was as if something inside Belldandy had changed. She was afraid, and she was afraid of losing him. Not but five minutes would pass before she would pop into his room, asking if everything was okay, or just looking at him. Sometimes, in the night he would wake up and see her silhouette hovering over him. He could see the sorrow confusion etched into her face, and it made him feel sad.

Today, as she brought him breakfast in bed, he gently took a hold of her hand when she knelt down next to him.

"Belldandy," he said, "I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me, but, please—give yourself a break. You had nothing to do with the accident, and I'm going to be all right." He breathed. "You've been so concerned, and I don't think you've hardly stopped for a break or even slept."

"Mr. Keiichi," Belldandy said, "this past couple of years has been different from anything I've ever known. I want to stay with you, and I want make sure you're okay. And I know now that the way things have been—they may not always be that way. So I don't want to waste a single moment of them."

The phone rang in another room. Belldandy paused for a second, deciding whether to answer it, but Megumi picked it up instead. Keiichi listened to her side of the conversation through the thin temple walls.

"Serious, you say?" Megumi asked.

The phone buzzed as the caller on the other end replied.

"But he just left a few days ago!" Megumi exclaimed. "He's still not 100 percent." Buzz. "Really?" Buzz, buzz. "I understand. I'll bring him down as soon as I can." _Click_

Belldandy looked up as Megumi entered the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but that was Dr. Morioka," she said. She threw an apologetic look at Keiichi. "He says that the results of your blood tests are in, and that he needs to speak with you as soon as possible."

Keiichi frowned. "Did he say what about?"

Megumi shook her head. "No particulars, but something about your head."

Belldandy's face contorted in worry. "But Mr. Keiichi is still recovering," she said. "He's not well."

Megumi shook her head. "I know, but he says it's really important and can't wait." She moved over to Keiichi's opposite side. "Come on, Belldandy, help me lift him into the wheelchair. He can eat breakfast while we go down there."

Reluctantly, Belldandy assented, and they lifted him and set him in the wheelchair he was using to get around for the time. Belldandy began to push him out the door.

Keiichi looked up and craned his neck around to face her. "It'll be okay, Belldandy. I'm sure it's nothing too bad."

888

Dr. Morioka sat across from Keiichi in the small reception area in the hospital, a packet of papers next to him and a somber expression on his face. He managed a quick smile and shook Keiichi's hand. "I'm glad to see you back on your feet, Keiichi," he said. "I apologize for having to call you down here, but unfortunately I've found a problem."

Next to him, Belldandy and her sisters, Megumi, Keima, and Takano looked on. Keiichi nodded. "What's the problem, Dr. Morioka?" he asked.

The physician withdrew several photograph-like sheets from the packet. They were roughly circular pictures in shades of black and white.

"These are CT scans of your head," Morioka explained. "Each of them represents a horizontal 'slice' of your head. We used them to evaluate the trauma to your brain." He paused. "While there weren't any problems there, I did notice something." He touched his finger to a spot on one of the scans. "Do you see that spot here, with a different color than its surrounding?" he asked.

Keiichi looked carefully. There was a small discolored area. He nodded. "What is it?"

Morioka shook his head. "It could be many things, but I had your blood tested and based on the results, plus your answers to my earlier questions, I think you may have what we call a brain stem glioma." He continued on, faster. "It's unfortunately most common in your age range, and the chemical markers are fairly reliable, but we can treat it."

"Wait, wait, wait," said Keiichi. "What's a 'brain stem glioma'?"

Morioka sighed, then glanced at the floor before looking back up. "It's a tumor, a malignant neoplasm of the lower brain," he answered. "Mr. Morisato, I hate to be the one to tell you, but you have brain cancer."

* * *

A/N: This idea came to me today, and I wondered just how this situation would play out in AMG. So I'm going to explore it. It will have dark moments.

Currently looking for beta readers, just shoot me a PM if you're interested.

Feedback is always appreciated.

-Taskforce


	2. An Uncertain Future

Here is the second Chapter of They Shall Not Grow Old. The shortness is due to the timespan covered being quite short, and my not wanting to end in the middle of the next episode, which I am working on.

* * *

"_Tomorrow morning, if you wake up, and the sun does not appear—I will be here."_

_-Steven Curtis Chapman_

* * *

**NEKOMI CHIBA PREF**

**RxJB3517954 MORIOKA H**

**MORISATO KEIICHI**

**MECLIZINE HCl (ANTIVERT EQ) 12.5MG**

**TAKE ONE TABLET BY MOUTH **

**FOUR TIMES A DAY **

**NEKOMI CHIBA PREF**

**RxJB3517955 MORIOKA H**

**MORISATO KEIICHI**

**DIAZEPAM (VALIUM EQ) 5MG**

**TAKE ONE TABLET BY MOUTH AS NEEDED**

**NO MORE THAN ONE TABLET EVERY SIX HOURS**

Keiichi Morisato regarded the plastic bottles in his hand numbly, his mind a thousand miles away. Absently, he softly shook the prescription containers, causing the drugs inside to rattle.

_A year…tops._ If Dr. Morioka was right, he had, at best, a year to live. One year left in a life that sometimes he swore had just begun. It would be a long and painful year, filled with radiation and chemotherapy, shots and medicine, and expensive hospital care. But the alternative was worse…

"_Brain stem gliomas are probably the most serious form of cranial neoplasm."_ He could hear Morioka's words in his mind. _"More serious than the average glioblastoma multiformae, and hard to operate on. The tumor is in the 'glial' cells which make up your brain—they fill in the spaces between neurons, giving the brain structure. Because of the glioma's diffuse nature, we can't remove it without killing you or causing incredible damage to the brain. If we don't treat this tumor immediately with chemotherapy and radiation therapy, your chances of living more than a couple of months are very slim."_

No surgical operation was possible. The alternative was to slowly poison himself with the chemotherapy drugs, hoping they killed the tumor faster than they killed him. The chemotherapy would wreak havoc on the cancer cells, but would also hurt other rapidly-dividing cells. His stomach lining would degrade. His hair would fall out and he would be bald. At twenty-one, he would _die_ bald. But if he did nothing, he would be a corpse in less than three months.

It was all too much to take in. His mind was a flurry of emotions. Disbelief, anger, confusion, despair, fear...they flashed through his head like lightning, so quickly that he literally did not know how to feel. Sitting in his room at the temple, he could only shake his head and wonder just how his life had changed in the past week.

_How?_ he asked himself. _How did this happen? Why?_

He sighed. _One race…one crash…then, suddenly, your whole life falls apart_. The maddening thing was that had he not crashed, the glioma's symptoms would have become steadily worse without him ever knowing why. If he had not crashed, he might not have ever known that he was a marked man until the very end.

But now, he knew. He knew in exquisite detail just how and when his life would end. _What the hell am I going to do? _he asked himself.

The problem was, though, that there was no good answer.

888

"Will it work?" Belldandy asked uncertainly.

"I don't know," Urd replied, thinking. "This is different." Kneeling next to the table, she continued to read through the book in front of her. "Cancer isn't like a cut or bruise. You can't simply increase his metabolism to heal him." She shook her head. "This is his own body rebelling against him."

For the first time Urd could remember in recent history, Belldandy didn't look the part of perfect goddess. Her hair was slightly disheveled and her clothing was wrinkled. While for anyone else, that might have been normal considering the day's events, it was incredibly out-of-place for Belldandy. She had never _needed_ to work to be beautiful. As a goddess, she was powerful and precise enough to smooth her wrinkled dress with a single thought, and working in the Relief Office had made keeping up her appearance second nature.

But now her face was lined with hints of strain, her blue eyes were clouded, and her aura diminished. Being Belldandy, of course, she hid her pain and confusion well, but Urd knew her. Knew her better than anyone else save the Almighty himself.

"But why would that happen?" Belldandy asked concernedly. "I just don't understand."

"Neither do the doctors here on Earth, apparently," her older sister replied. "Oh, they've got _guesses_. But they can't predict how and when cancer will occur, especially these brainstem gliomas." Urd sighed. "This isn't exactly my area of knowledge either, Belldandy. I could try to do something, but I think the person with the best chance of healing Keiichi is you."

"Belldandy, understand that you've gone beyond the usual limits here," Urd said, closing the book and looking up. "Since you've come down to Earth, you've done things that even those in Heaven said were impossible." She ticked off each point with her fingers. "You've been able to bind yourself to Earth. You defeated the Lord of Terror, _and_ saved me, I might add." Urd smiled. "You've raised the happiness in this part of the Earth by an order of magnitude. Niflheim is not pleased."

The brown-haired goddess shook her head worriedly. "What if it doesn't work? What if I go in there and…and I can't do anything at all?" Her cheeks burned as she remembered the last time she had tried to heal one of Keiichi's 'illnesses' with the result of knocking him out. Finding out that he hadn't been sick at all had been not only embarrassing, but also dangerous. She could have seriously _hurt_ him trying to make him better.

As much as she wanted to deny it, Belldandy was not a healer. She was a wish-granter of the Goddess Relief Office, and while she was possibly the most powerful being on Earth, that did her no good if she didn't know how to apply that power. She had failed to fully heal Keiichi after his almost-fatal accident, and all her work since had not only failed to heal Keiichi's cancer, but to even detect it.

To Urd, seeing her sister doubt herself was almost as cruel as knowing Keiichi's predicament. The Goddess Belldandy was the closest thing to perfection in existence, hands down without a hint of hyperbole. She had been created perfect, to be the symbol of all heaven stood for. Her time on Earth had seen chinks in her armor revealed, the secret flaws that haunted her.

Keiichi realized that, and loved her anyways. For him, she didn't have to be perfect in the eyes of the Almighty or even those of his own classmates, because _to_ _him_ she was perfect. He was glad that she was supernaturally powerful, and a wonder student, and kind beyond belief, but that wasn't why he loved her. He loved her for reasons that Urd knew no one else could fully appreciate or understand, because that was how loved worked.

So when Belldandy became afraid that Keiichi would look down at her for some reason, Urd found herself wishing she could slap some sense into her sister. Wishful thinking; slapping Belldandy would only worsen her self-doubt. In order to convince her sister she would have to persuade her—and fight back her own impatience.

"Belldandy." Urd waited until the cerulean-eyed goddess looked up at her. "Belldandy, you're never been one to stand aside. So don't. Even if you can't heal Keiichi, it would be better to try and fail than to not try at all."

"Oh, Urd…," Belldandy cried softly, cradling her head in her hands. "I don't know what to think anymore. Why hasn't the system force started working? Why is this happening to us? Everything was perfect…"

Leaning over, Urd embraced her sister gently. "It'll be okay," she whispered. "We'll find a way.

888

"_It'll be okay."_

Those simple words had become the hallmark of his life, Keiichi knew, and it was true. No matter what would happen to him in his life, he knew that with Belldandy at his side things would eventually end up all right. He had told that to himself whenever Urd and Skuld had blown up his bike, or his house, or any of his other possessions. He had whispered those words to himself when Belldandy had been briefly turned into a demon. He had clung to them even when his mind had been overthrown by the Lord of Terror and the fate of the world rested on his own destruction.

It hadn't mattered, though, because his time with Belldandy had convinced him that somehow, everything would work out in the end. Every day he spent with her he realized how lucky he was, to the point that all his previous misfortune seemed to simply be the dept he had owed for finding such joy later in life. When he was with Belldandy, it was like straying into a waking dream.

Now, though, he wasn't so sure.

A quiet knock on his door startled him out of his reverie. Glancing down at his watch, he nearly started in surprise: it was nearly eleven in the evening, and the room was dark. _Four hours! Have I really been sitting here that whole time?_

Turning his head up, he looked to the door. "Yes?" he asked hesitantly

"Mr. Keiichi," a soft feminine voice answered him. "May I come in?"

_Belldandy…_he thought. _What can I even say to her? What should I say?_ He sighed. _I have never been a good communicator, but just once, just once, I wish I could say the right things without some kind of misunderstanding or mistake_.

Well, there was nothing for it. "Of course," he answered.

There was a soft rasp of wood against wood as the door slid open. And then she was there.

Belldandy. The goddesses who had come down from Heaven and stayed with him. With _him_. The woman he loved. She was every bit the vision she had been two years ago when she had jumped out of his mirror and into his life. Since then, the road had been long, and filled with obstacles, but they had overcome them all. Together.

Belldandy kneeled in front of him and looked him in the eyes. "Mr. Keiichi, I'm going to try to heal you," she said determinedly. "Please lay down for a moment."

Keiichi blinked. "You—you think you can heal me?" he asked, astonished.

_Of course, stupid!_ his mind told him as he lay down on his back. _How long have you known Belldandy can heal illnesses? More than a year? Why didn't you think of that? _

"I…I don't know," Belldandy admitted. "But I'm going to try." Reaching out, she placed a hand over his head and closed her eyes. "Here is a wandering soul," she intoned, "seeking healing and rest. Grant this prayer: that he will be restored."

Her hand glowed with a faint light and she began speaking in the rapid, undecipherable code language that Yggdrasil responded to. Like the time over a year before, Keiichi felt his eyelids begin to droop as the spell took effect. His last sight was Belldandy's face as she concentrated, then he felt a soothing darkness take him.

888

Urd sighed as she closed the medical book. Yawning, she rose from her kneeling position and walked to the door of the tea room. _Might as well start looking for useful spells,_ she though as she walked to her room.

"Is Keiichi going to be okay?"

Urd turned to see her raven-haired sister looking up at her imploringly; Skuld had been listening outside of the door. She bit back the flippant remark that had risen automatically at the sound of Skuld's voice, studying the look of concern on the younger goddess's face.

"I don't know," she admitted. "It's not good. Keiichi is very sick."

"It—It wasn't something I did, was it?" Skuld asked, her eyes widening. "I mean, all those times I hit Keiichi with Skuld-bombs I didn't really mean to hurt him…just keep him from acting all perverted around my sister. I mean, I like him, and…"

Urd smiled wanly. _Oh, Skuld…still young enough to think that even the bad things in life are because of you. You'll grow up eventually._ "No, Skuld, this isn't your fault."

"But I don't understand!" the young goddess complained. "Why hasn't the Almighty done something? You'd think after how much Keiichi has done for Heaven they would at least make sure that he was okay… Or _something_."

Urd gritted her teeth, tempted to blow her annoying little sister off by telling her that sometimes life was just unfair, but in all honesty Skuld had a point. After what Keiichi had been through for Heaven, you would expect that in times like this they might have been willing to help out.

"Is Yggdrasil still on speed dial?" she asked Skuld.

"Well, yeah..." Skuld started to answer, but Urd was already heading for the telephone.

888

Belldandy looked down at him as he lay peacefully on the temple floor, and realized she had failed. The spark of life, flickering in the wind of existence within Keiichi's soul, had not regained its former glory. She could feel the subtle twitch in his aura from the deadly mass that grew in his head, threatening to choke off his life.

Keiichi, who had given over his life to her, lay helpless before her, and there wasn't a thing she could do to make him better.

"You did the right thing." The voice came from behind her. Turning, Belldandy saw Urd leaning in the doorway behind her, watching.

The silver-haired goddess pointed down at the sleeping young man. "You gave him peace, at least for the night."

"I can't heal him," Belldandy whispered. "I can't save him."

"Don't say that, sis," Urd admonished her. "You don't know that. I just spoke with Peorth, and she's analyzing Keiichi's condition right now using Yggdrasil. We're going to find a way to help him."

"But still…" Belldandy began.

Urd crossed her arms. "The only way you could have healed him was to blast away the cancer in his brain, but you don't have the precision to do that any more than the doctors on Earth do. _I_ don't have that precision. Maybe one of Heaven's healers does…but they aren't here."

"Then what can we do?" Belldandy looked up at her sister, her expression noticeably more strained. "I can't just sit here while Mr. Keiichi…while Mr. Keiichi…d-"

The older goddess knelt down next to her and embraced her sister in a hug. "We're not going to give up," she assured Belldandy. "Keiichi's not out of it yet. I have a few tricks up _my_ sleeve, anyways. But, Belldandy," she said, "if you want to help Keiichi, you need to rest, too." Urd looked her disapprovingly. "You haven't slept in at least three days, have you?"

Belldandy looked up at her, then down again. "No. I didn't want to leave him…in case something went wrong. But now everything's gone wrong," she lamented.

"Belldandy, you need to rest. If you don't sleep, you won't be able to use your powers, and then you won't be able to help Keiichi the way you want to."

The younger goddess hung her head. "You're right." She started to rise. "I will go get some rest."

"Oh, no, you don't," Urd said, killing the impulse to smirk just a bit. "You're not going anywhere."

Belldandy blinked. "But, Urd, you just said that I should rest."

Urd glanced down at Keiichi. "Are you going to leave him here, alone, then?"

Belldandy blushed when she realized where Urd was going. "I'm not sure that's a good idea…" she said.

"Your choice." Urd shrugged. "But I will say this: cherish every moment you have together. Some things, you may never realize are precious until you no longer have them." She straightened. "I know."

The older goddess turned right before she exited the door. "The question is, do you want to live the rest of your life wondering 'What if?'" Then she turned back around and was gone.

Belldandy looked back at the sleeping form of the mortal she loved, torn between her own sense of propriety and the urge she had long been suppressing out of fear and uncertainty. She hadn't wanted to push Keiichi at all for fear of losing him, but now he was being taken away from anyways.

"No," she said softly. "I won't hesitate this time." She knelt beside the sleeping man. "I won't let this keep me away any more." _I can't let you go Keiichi. Because without you I can't exist._

_

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Feedback is always appreciated, and it is my hope that you are enjoying _They Shall Not Grow Old_.

As a personal note, the holidays are coming up, which means a lot of stress and rampant emotions. This applies to everyone, but especially to those military readers here- make sure that your friends and coworkers are doing okay. I recently had one of my sailors try to commit suicide, and it was one of the few times I've been scared shitless. He is okay now, but its the sort of thing I never want to have happen. So just take care of those around you, especially around these times, and rmember that we must all hang together or we will surely hang separately.


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